Wednesday, January 16, 2008

I wasn't there to hear it, but Mom emailed me excerpts of her conversation with Brad yesterday:

"Grama, are you going to come to visit? Will you park in my garage?""Brad,where are you?""I'm right here!!""Brad, are you in Maryland?""No, I'm in Carolina!!""Brad, can you sing Happy Birthday to me?""Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you - giggle, giggle, giggle.""Brad, have you been sick?""Yes, my eye was bleeding!" [ed. note: if by bleeding you mean excessive green puss, then yes, it was 'bleeding']"Did you put medicine in your eye?""NO, Grama, I put medicine in my mouth!!"

This is Anne, the morning we got her up from her crib and found that instead of Anne, she'd been replaced by her evil twin, the green monster. Her entire face (I'm not kidding) was crusted with green. Green on her cheeks, her chin, layers under her nose, IN HER EARS...her eyes were crusted shut. It took Doug 10 minutes with a hot washcloth to get it all off. Thankfully, I was able to be home with her and took her to the doctor, where she received extra-strong antibiotics. By Sunday morning she was so much better.

But then we noticed Brad's eyes were red. And had green in them. So Doug took him to the doctor on Monday. Then Doug got sick. Now I'm sick. So we're all in various stages of icky green miserableness.

I get to go home tomorrow!!! YAY! (Can you tell I'm not liking this whole travel for work thing?) So more pics all around this weekend.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

So, we really like the new house, but I'm thinking about moving again. I mean, you should live where you spend most of your time, right? Too bad Lowe's doesn't allow that. I'd save a lot of gas if I just moved in.

Since moving in, we've spent almost as much, about 2/3 as much, on the house as we spent on the down payment....!!!! There was the painting, the carpeting, the cleaning of the existing carpets, the house cleaning, the locksmith, the handyman for the cat doors, the plumber for the garbage disposal, the new rugs for the family room and dining room. The new rugs for the doors. And let's not even count all of the little things I've picked up on various trips to Lowe's:

PlungerBroomScrewsTowel rack, hand towel rackHandles for cabinets in children's bathroomTwo very large rugs (dining room/family room)Bookcase for Brad's roomMagnet for child proof locks that we couldn't open because we didn't have one

I'm going back next weekend for more screws, more light bulbs, and who knows what else.

I also need to order/obtain many things for other parts of the house:

Microwave (it was ordered, but shipped to Annapolis. Lovely.)Dresser for Brad (ordered from Walmart.com, supposed to arrive by the 23rd)Towels for guest bathAlarm clock (ours was lost in the move...don't know how that happened)Love seat/chair/ottoman (right now we're sitting on the floor to watch TV, which isn't really a bad thing since it limits our TV viewing)Small bookcase for Anne's room (her stuff is strewn on the floor but I'm trying to give the AmEx a rest--I'm afraid it's going to fall apart because it's been swiped so often...)Phones (one of them was lost in the move, the '2' and '5' buttons on the other don't work)

And then there are all the little things that need to be followed up on:

We haven't received the Wall Street Journal since before the move...I keep putting off that call.The couch upholstery needs to be dry cleaned and the two chairs need to be sent out for cleaning.The chair in our bedroom needs to be reupholstered in one spot.The cable service is spotty and needs to be followed up on.I need new cell phone service (TMobile, sadly enough, does not work in NC, so I've canceled my account). I'll be driving back to Washington tomorrow without a cell phone. Mom, you can start worrying...wait for it...NOW.The furniture hasn't been delivered.The office/desk/study area is only 50% organized and needs to be tackled.The cats are misbehaving EVERYWHERE. And I don't know what to do about it. Any advice? Any advice other than, "Get rid of them," please.

And there are the everyday things: the car really needs an oil change, and hasn't been cleaned out since the move, the medical receipts need to be submitted for reimbursement, the old clothes/toys/stuff of the children needs to be sold on ebay, the desks that the former occupants left need to be donated, etc., etc., etc.

So I think the saying is right: You don't own a house, the house owns you.

I've declared the dining room "done." We could probably hang a few more pictures, but I don't have anything else that would like nice in there, and with all of our other recent expenditures, I'm not rushing out any time soon to look for the perfect picture.

Friday, January 04, 2008

I didn't think to take pictures of any room but Brad's (I was too busy worry about unpacking, not picture taking). But Brad's room was by far the messiest. And this was after I had unloaded everything from the bed! After pics coming up starting tomorrow.

Thursday, January 03, 2008

We finally, finally have internet, phone, and cable service! Doug and I are so happy!!

These pictures are a bit delayed: Brad and Anne are eating their last breakfast in our apartment in MD. They are enjoying Starbucks, as there was no food in the house.

I'll start posting pictures of the new house tomorrow, and continuing on through the weekend. Most of the rooms are done, but I still have all the pictures to hang, some furniture to take delivery of (on Saturday), and the study/desk area to organize. Mostly the desk--I think I'll let Doug tackle the one million books we have. :) Love you, honey!